Hysteria In The Crucible

“Even in an enlightened democracy, the media have to check themselves to make sure they are not contributing to an unnecessary mass hysteria” (Brainyquote). Even the most sophisticated governments can lead the public into a state of hysteria. Often times when people become hysterical, others take that opportunity to obtain power for their personal benefit. In history and Arthur Miller’s The Crucible, public hysteria was exploited in order to obtain and manipulate power for personal gain.

The first reason the Salem witch trials occurred was mainly because people were scared of the devil. The people of Salem were all Puritans and were extremely scared of Satan. Since they were so scared, once one person was accused, everybody became spectacle and believed that there was witchcraft in the village. The smallest little suspicions caused people to think that you were a witch. Even by the way you acted in one little way, the town would freak out

Pointing fingers at someone can do a lot of damage to someone's reputation. Sometimes we point fingers at innocent people in fear the unknown or what may hurt us.. Fearing something or fearing the unknown can cause an uprising or reaction throughout a society or community. Throughout the story “The Crucible” and during the time of McCarthyism many people feared of what may happen to them, as known hysteria. Hysteria is an outburst of fear that spreads through society leaving consequences for blameless people, although with hysteria no one would know what to fear or believe in the society.

The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, was a historical play written about the Salem witch trials that took place in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1692-93. The Salem witch trials created mass hysteria throughout the entire village of Salem, which was also mainly inhabited by Puritans. Puritans had a set ideal of firm beliefs that managed how they lived. Essentially, they were living as an elect, which meant they (referring to the Puritans) had a place in heaven for the righteous acts they have done in the physical world. Meaning, any sinful acts could potentially hinder the chances of entering heaven as an elect. The Crucible, questioned everything the Puritans abided by. It questioned the basic morals of a pure lifestyle, adultery and

In today's society there are many cases of mass hysteria just like long ago. In the book John Proctor says a quote that hits big time for mass hysteria, he says “God is dead” while laughing insanely, and if that does not cause mass hysteria then nothing does.

In the late 20th century the hysteria of communism was plaguing the United States. This madness developed into something on a much larger scale, this being called the Red Scare. The red scare was hysteria over the perceived threat of communism enveloping in the US. This era caused a fluster among citizens as they felt that their own could be conspirators of communism. In Arthur Miller’s, The Crucible, the events that occur in Salem over witchcraft mirror the Red Scare. The imposed threat caused people to accuse others without evidence of unprincipled acts that could affect everyone. In The Crucible, fear surrounds each character into making preposterous accusations against people in the town and causes the vulnerable to unhinge.

Hysteria is an exaggerated or uncontrollable emotion or excitement, especially among a group of people. This can lead to lie being spread that people will believe due to hysteria. In the Crucible by Arthur Miller, Arthur use the red scare of post war america as his inspiration for his novel. During the red scare people were accusing any person of being a communist and people believed because due to hysteria. Arthur miller uses hysteria to show that it leads to Damaged reputations,lies ,and hurting people's lives.

“Whatever hysteria exists is inflamed by mystery, suspicion, and secrecy. Hard and exact facts will cool it” (Elia Kazan). The Crucible by Arthur Miller is about the story of the Salem witch trials and how people react to the situation during the 1690’s. Miller’s message concerning individual conscience in an atmosphere of fear and mass hysteria in The Crucible is that people can turn on others and suspect each other or tell lies or false accusations in order to save themselves or loved ones.

1. Throughout The Crucible, the theme of mass hysteria is presented. For example, after Tituba “confessed” to have been working under pressure, Abigail screams “I want the light of God, I want the sweet love of Jesus! I danced for the Devil; I saw him, I wrote in his book; I go back to Jesus; I kiss His hand. I saw Sarah Good with the Devil! I saw Goody Osburn with the Devil! I saw Bridget Bishop with the Devil!” (54) The reason why Abigail suddenly “confesses” starts with Tituba. Tituba was under extreme pressure when Reverend Hale and many others were screaming at her; therefore she decided to just give them what they want – a confession – so they would stop. Seeing this, Abigail joins in that she will not be interrogated later, thus adding to the overall hysteria and madness of a witch hunt. In addition, the theme of vengeance is also displayed when John Proctor blatantly states “I'll tell you what's walking Salem - vengeance is walking Salem… now the little crazy children are jangling the keys of the kingdom,

NFL Players are protesting the injustices for people of color still face in America today. Taking a knee is not anti-American or anti-military. The players are not attempting to disrespect the country, national anthem, flag, and military by taking a knee. The players are directly protesting injustice against people of color, police brutality, and the criminal justice system. The national anthem is just the wheel for the protest. In the same way, hysteria is involved in the act by Arthur Miller epithet “The Crucible”. Hysteria is a exaggerated and uncontrollable emotion ,excitement and especially among certain group of people. The role of hysteria has been involved and impacted events, certain character and major factor in the many accusations of witchcraft that occurred throughout the play.

Fear in itself is something to be feared. Fear is the primary source of insanity and chaos. Fear alone sent the Puritan society of Salem, Massachusetts into a state of utter hysteria in the year 1692, when one of the world's most infamous witch hunts occurred. Arthur Millers play, The Crucible, is a historical fiction depicting the events of the Salem Witch Trials. A witch hunt is a political campaign launched on the pretext of investigating activities subversive to the state. Every witch hunt is identifiable by the five key elements; the use of a scapegoat, a struggle to maintain moral order, a subversive character or group, an outbreak of hysteria and panic, and ulterior motives that provide

In “The Crucible”, the author, Arthur Miller, conveys what he believes Senator Joe McCarthy is doing during the Red Scare. The Salem Witch Trials were true events, while this play uses these trials and adds a fictional twist to show a point. Witchcraft was punishable by death during this time. Once names started flying in town it was like a chain reaction, people were accusing others of witchcraft because they were not fond of them or they had something they wanted. Some definitions state mass hysteria as contagious, the characters in this play deemed it true. In this play, innocent people were hung because some of the girls in town cried witch.

Mass hysteria is a phenomenon that has occurred throughout history In The Crucible, Arthur Miller uses the hysteria and irrational overreaction during the Salem Witch trials as an allegory to address the current issues the U.S. faced while dealing with communism in the 1950’s, and the hysteria over the perceived threat posed by Communists became known as the Red Scare. All three events vary in the intensity of hysteria as well as the size of the population, although similarities regarding the hysteria in both The Crucible and The Red Scare can also be applied to the current hysteria surrounding the Ebola virus. Examples of these similarities are the use of scapegoats by the individual people or parties responsible for the initial hysteria, wrongfully accusing or discriminating people due to a belief based solely on trepidation and lack of substantial evidence.

Aristotle once said, “All persons ought to endeavor to follow what is right, and not what is established.” According to the site titled History, “McCarthy declared that he had a list of 205 known members of the Communist Party who were “working and shaping policy” in the State Department.” (http://www.history.com). This accusation led to a mob hysteria known as the Red Scare. The Crucible demonstrated the strange phenomenon of Mob Hysteria. As we understand, Arthur Miller wrote The Crucible with the influences of the non-fictional events during the Salem Witch Trials, as well as the events that occurred during the McCarthy Era. The Crucible portrays how mass hysteria influenced people to state false accusations, unfair trials in the court

In the short story “The Crucible” hysteria is spread when Betty and Abigail were dancing in the forest around a fire and caused the townspeople to suspect that both girls were associated with witchcraft due to religious beliefs. This hysteria caused reverend Parris to fear that his position was in danger because if the townspeople were to find out his enemies would attempt to dethrone him. In this case hysteria was caused by Betty and Abigail dancing in the forest around a fire. Therefore hysteria is spread by the fact that Parris is panicking with that he is causing more hysteria, “It must come out - my enemies will bring it out.Let me know what you done there. Abigail, do , you understand that I have enemies?”. This quote signifies how